MOUNT OLIVE, NC – After scoring a season-high 53 points in the first half, the Francis Marion University men's basketball program surged past the University of Mount Olive by an 89-78 margin on Wednesday (Jan. 28) in Conference Carolinas action.
Francis Marion secures back-to-back victories to improve to 6-13 overall while holding a 6-5 mark in league play.
The Patriots were scheduled to host Southern Wesleyan University on Saturday (Jan. 31), but the contest has been postponed due to the forecast of winter weather. A make-up date, possibly Monday evening, will be announced soon. FMU continues East Division play on Wednesday, Feb. 4, with a road contest at UNCP at 7 p.m.
In his return to Kornegay Arena, junior guard
Kennard Davis delivered a double-double after scoring a career-high 18 points and dishing out 11 assists in 35 minutes on the court. He was 14-of-15 at the free throw line, just one miss off the top mark for perfection for a Patriot — 14-of-14 by Joe Thompson against Presbyterian College on Jan. 15, 1981. Davis played his initial two years of collegiate basketball at Mount Olive.
Senior swingman
Cole Deptula led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting while converting four-of-seven from beyond the arc. He also added three rebounds, five assists, and one steal in 37 minutes.
Junior guard
AuMauri Tillman finished with 12 points, two rebounds, one assist, and three steals in 16 minutes off the bench. Senior guard
Farid SaintCyr Jr. contributed 11 points, two rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 22 minutes. Senior forward
Adonis Cole tallied 10 points, six rebounds, and three blocks in 29 minutes.
Christian Ananaba and Raul Perez of Mount Olive (8-12, 5-7) each scored a team-high 18 points.
In the first half, the Patriots opened up an early 10-2 lead in the initial five minutes of the game, led by Deptula with six points. The two sides traded baskets over the next two-plus minutes before Francis Marion scored nine unanswered with SaintCyr Jr. accounting for seven points to lead by a 25-8 margin with 10:36 to go. Mount Olive slowly chipped away at the deficit with a 10-5 rally, but the Patriots quickly countered with six-straight points, 36-18. FMU shot 6-of-10 from the field over the final six minutes of the half, including hitting a pair of three-pointers, to head into the break with a 53-37 advantage.
FMU continues its hot start from the first half after climbing the lead to 67-46 with 14:59 to go, the largest lead of the game. Mount Olive answered with an impressive 13-2 rally to cut the deficit to 69-59 with just under 11 minutes remaining. The Patriots managed to build their advantage to 80-65 following a three-pointer by Deptula, but UMO countered with nine consecutive points to trail 80-74 with 3:24 left. FMU was stellar from the free-throw line in the closing minutes after sinking seven-of-eight shots to seal the 89-78 win.
Francis Marion finished the contest shooting 30-of-58 (51.7 percent) from the floor while converting 84.0 percent (21-of-25) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Mount Olive posted a .419 field goal percentage (26-of-62) and made 21-of-31 (67.7 percent) from the charity stripe. The Trojans finished with a 42-27 rebounding advantage with 40 points off the bench. The Patriots tallied 38 points in the paint and 19 points off turnovers.
